Why you should download it: Shopkick is the first program that rewards you simply for walking into your favorite stores. You don’t even have to purchase anything to reap the benefits of this app.

How it Works: All you need to do is walk into one of many participating stores and open the Shopkick app on your mobile phone. Wait a few seconds for a big green welcome bubble to appear and Shopkick’s state of the art technology will verify your presence in the store, rewarding you instantly!

There are three kinds of instant rewards available with Shopkick: deals, “kicks” and scan rewards. Deals are available at dozens of national stores and are offered up when you enter one. Redeeming a deal is as simple as telling the cashier your phone number, which will then be automatically applied to your purchase.

Second is Shopkick’s virtual currency called “kicks.” Kicks are rewarded instantly when you walk into a Best Buy, Target, Macy’s, American Eagle, Sports Authority, Crate & Barrel, West Elm, Wet Seal and the largest Simon malls. Kicks can be redeemed for gift cards, restaurant vouchers, travel offers, charitable donations and more. You can collect additional kicks by sharing the app with a friend.

Lastly are scan rewards. Get rewarded simply by scanning the barcodes of featured products with your phone at more than 250,000 stores across the country.

Noteworthy: The Shopkick app rose to the top of the Apple App Store among 300,000 applications and became the largest location-based shopping app in America, reaching 2 million users within a record 11 months since its August 2010 launch.